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Quest for Power, Not Oil, Spurred Bush Administration's Push Into Iraq, Says Noted Oil Expert
WASHINGTON, September 9, 2003 -- Despite a widespread belief around the world that the United States invaded Iraq for its oil, Vahan Zanoyan, president and CEO of PFC Energy, told IRP Fellows today that he believes oil is actually playing no part in current U.S. policy in the region.
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Vahan Zanoyan tells IRP Fellows that he does not believe the United States invaded Iraq for oil. |
In Zanoyan's view, the United States wants to fundamentally alter Middle East politics not for practical economic reasons, but due to a fervent desire to exercise power that is driven by the neo-conservative ideologues in the Bush administration. In his view, the "inner circle" of Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Karl Rove, among others, has aligned itself with the Christian right and the pro-Israel lobby in an effort to change the political dynamic in the Middle East.
The terror attacks of September 11, 2001, which led to the US war on terror, has been the means by which the Bush Aadministration has won popular support for its crusade, Zanoyan said. It is "impossible to separate the oil and gas companies and oil and gas-producing countries from geopolitical conditions around the world," he said.
But he said he believes it is not a strategic interest in oil and gas, or even oil company interests, that are influencing the Bush administration. The world oil supply is plentiful, he maintained, and is not a real concern to the United States. "Wars have been fought over oil and maps changed," Zanoyan said. "But not today. When we try to analyze the 'neocon' interests, we don't see oil interests." Citing George Bush's religious convictions, he said that this administration's view his driven by "a deep belief in something bigger."
He noted that Iraq was poised to open its oil industry to foreign investment before the first Gulf War, and that U.S. companies have consistently been locked out of investment in Iran by US government restrictions. He therefore sees no evidence that American oil companies are pulling the strings of U.S. foreign policy. "We have done more damage to oil companies than any other country in the world," said Zanoyan.
Zanoyan's company, PFC Energy, is a consulting group that advises oil companies, oil-producing governments and the United States on oil market trends and policy development.
Copyright © 2005 International Reporting Project. All Rights Reserved.